The Runes of Fate
By: Chupacabratamer
Disclaimer: The usual. I don't own anything in the Harry Potter Universe. Thank you to J.K. for allowing us to play in your sand box. The characters are just too amazing not to be dusted off and sent on other adventures.
Also, this is totally a stream of ideas that hit me at one point after a few months of living in the fantasy world of fanfiction. This starts a year before JK started with Harry and Hogwarts. What if Harry discovered Runes just before his tenth birthday. I picked the date to match the real calendar so this starts on a Sunday.
Any character you recognize are JKs. Any that you don't are mine and I do hope you like them. Thanks to my muses for help with ideas and plots. Just talking to you has helped me direct the possible story lines. This is just a start and I have no idea how far I will take this. For now enjoy the ride with me.
I do not and would never make any money from JKs world. Your feed back is all I receive. I'm writing this because I want to read it. I hope you do too. Thank you in advance.
Chapter 2: Xylona
July 28, 1991 – Harry turns ten in three days.
"I could hear but I tuned out quickly. I didn't want to listen in."
"You're a better boy than most Harry Potter. Now let's get you home."
Harrys face fell as he looked at Sophia. When she turned to see that look she realized the problem.
"To my home that is. I live about a ten minute walk from here."
His smile returned and collecting everything they made their way out of the office and out the front door. Waving to Pat and Jerry on the way.
"We need to pick up Xylona on the way home. She is staying with the Porters two streets away. Are you ok with that?" Sophia asked as they walked "Do you know the Porters?"
"No I don't think so"
"That is good. It would be harder to explain you being with me if they knew you. Also, The Porters are non magicals so no mention of magic. Xy knows not to mention magic around them."
"Ok. I'll be careful." Harry said as they walked.
When they got to the first street to cross Sophia reached for Harrys hand. He shied away before realizing it would be ok and took her hand. Sophia saw this and filed it away for later. Harry knew better than to take any of the Dursleys hands near a street. None of them would be sure he would be safe and with Dudley quite the opposite was the case. The concussion he got a few years ago proved that and he had never made that mistake again.
The lady answering the door was a nice middle age lady with short blond hair and a big smile.
"Well who is this young man?" She asked.
"Hello Starr. This is a friend from the library that is coming home for dinner. His family was delayed coming home and I agreed to watch him at the library. Say hello Harry."
"Hello. It's nice to meet you." Harry said and reached out his hand. He had over heard Vernon saying that a firm handshake was a sign of a good person. Mrs. Porter shook his hand. He hoped he had done well. He could tell from the look on Sophias face that she approved.
"Xylona. Your mother is here." Starr shouted back into the house.
"I trust she was good for you today?" Sophia asked.
"She was but there was something odd. You asked me to tell you if anything strange happened."
"Yes. What was it?"
"She wanted to play with the old doll on the shelf and I told her she had enough toys out. When I returned to the room a few minutes later she had the doll that was on the top shelf with the others. I didn't say anything but it seemed strange." Starr said looking confused as she thought about it again.
Harry saw Sophia reaching into her satchel and realized she was reaching for her wand.
"Did she climb up the bookcase again?" Harry asked looking at Sophia "You told me she liked to climb things."
Both ladies looked at him in question. Xylona showed up at the same time. Harry decided to give it a shot.
"Hello Xylona. Have you been climbing bookcases again?" He looked into her eyes and gave a little nod to her. To her credit Xy noticed the looks on the adults faces and realized she should go along with it. She looked sheepishly at him and then her mother.
"I'm sorry. I know you said not to climb in the house but my tea party needed one more person. You can't have a tea party with an empty seat, it's just not proper. I promise I won't do it again." Xylona looked every bit the part of the child caught doing something wrong.
"I'm sorry Mrs. Porter. I promise I won't do it again." Xylona said.
"My little monkey here needs to remember to keep her feet on the ground." Sophia admonished her daughter mildly. While she had her daughters eye she wiggled her finger and pointed it at Harry. Her eyes flew open at this gesture from the mother. She had never done that to a child before.
"Yes Mom." Sophia nodded her head to Mrs Porter while looking at Xylona.
"It won't happen again Mrs. Porter. I'm sorry." Xylona said.
"Well. Like they say in futbol. No blood no foul. Just be more careful next time please." Starr said.
The three turned and headed for home. Harry and Xylona each taking one of Sophias hands as they walked. When they got home the questions started from both women.
"Mom. Who is your new friend?" Xylona started.
"I'm Harry …" Sophia interrupted him before he could say his last name.
"Xy this is Harry. He is the boy I've told you I help at the library. Harry this is Xylona or Xy as she liked to be known." Sophia said.
"Xy. Why don't you two go play for a little while and I'll get dinner on. How about a picnic. I'll get the grill going and we can have hot dogs and the works."
"I love picnics. Come on Harry. I want to introduce you to my friends." Xylona said as she all but dragged Harry away. Sophia was about to slow her girl down but the chuckle coming from Harry let her know he was ok with it.
Harry had never been in a girls room before. He wasn't sure what to expect but this was not it. It was almost sectioned off with different groups of toys all arranged in some kind of order. There was obviously a tea party. He could see both a castle and knights, a princess and even a dragon. The dragon had a little smoke coming out of its nose. There was also a pool party with dolls in the pool and on the deck beside the pool.
"My mom gave me the sign that you are magical. What have you done?" Xylona asked.
"Um.. I wrote out a Rune and it protected me from getting hurt." he said.
"Cool. Can I see it?"
"Sure." Harry said pulling the paper from his pocket.
"Looks simple. Will it protect me too?" She asked.
"I don't know. I don't want you to get hurt if I did it wrong." Harry said.
Xylona winked. "Let's see." and before Harry could stop her she took the paper from his hand and hit her other hand against the castle, which turned out to be real stone. Looking at her unhurt knuckles and she smiled.
"This would be wicked to have. Will it work if I draw one?" She asked returning the paper to Harry.
"I don't know. Your mother said I had to push magic into it. She talked me through it but I don't know if I can show you or do it again myself." Harry admitted.
"Let's find out."
Xylona jumped up and ran to her desk. Grabbing a scrap piece of paper and a biro she returned and almost sat on Harry. He moved quickly to give her room.
She looked at the Rune and copied it exactly. Harry explained what Sophia had told him about pushing his magic and Xylona tried. He didn't see the blue glow and before he could stop her she knocked her knuckles against the castle again. This time it hurt. Harry could see her trying to stop the tears knowing she did it to herself. Her knuckles were red and starting to drip small droplets of blood from the abrasion.
He took his paper with the Rune on it and pressed it against her knuckles and he could see the instant relief on her face.
"I guess I didn't push right." she said "Would you try?"
Harry nodded as she held the paper in the palm of her hand for him to try. Harry put his finger on it and concentrated as he tried to mentally push into the Rune. It wasn't working so he closed his eyes and pushed. Xylona gasped as Harry finally felt it.
Clutching the paper in her hand Xylona once more rapped her knuckles against the castle and she was unhurt.
"Thank you my prince." She said as she leaned towards him and gave the air in his direction a kiss.
"I bet Harry Potter wished he had that when he was fighting the dragon. Don't you?" She said.
"Who?" Harry asked looking at her with a furrowed brow.
"From Harry Potter and the Castle of Doom." she said. "Haven't you read that one? It just came out last month. It's the tenth in the Harry Potter series and there is a dragon that he has to fight to save the princess."
"Um. I haven't read them. My relatives are muggles and I didn't know I was magical until just this afternoon." Harry said.
"Wow. That must have been a shock to you."
"Yes. But it does help me understand somethings that have happened in the past."
"Accidental Magic? Like what I did today." Xylona said.
"I thought that might be what it was. I hope you don't mind me making you out to be some kind of monkey." Harry said.
"No problem. Better I'm thought to be a monkey than a non magical seeing magic."
Sophia called to them to wash up and get ready for dinner.
Sophia had the picnic table in the back yard decked out with all the usual picnic fair and the grill was puffing out smoke from the hot dogs and hamburgers.
"Have a seat you two"
Harry watched as the hot dogs rolled back and forth getting the perfect browning and the burgers flipped themselves.
"Just so you know Harry, the yard is warded with Runes that prevent anyone but a magical to see what magic is doing. They wouldn't see the hot dogs moving or the burgers flipping themselves. My friend helped with those."
"Like the Rune I did today?"
"Just like those."
"I tried to make Harrys Rune but it didn't work for me, Mommy"
Sophia looked from her daughter to Harry and back.
"That's a little advanced for you Xy. Better to wait until I teach you how." Sophia said.
"I'm sorry Sophia. I didn't know I shouldn't show her." Harry said.
"It's no problem Harry. We just don't want any accidents."
"Mine didn't work but Harrys fixed up my scratched knuckles. He pushed magic into my drawing and it worked for me the next time." Xylona said pulling the paper from the pocket and showing her mother.
Sophia held the paper and could feel the magic in it. It was impressive for a ten year-old to be able to produce that effect.
During dinner Xylona was a fountain of questions and Sophia just watched to see how Harry would handle it. She knew he didn't have any younger siblings and from what she could gather from what he didn't say his relatives were not nice to him.
"What's it like being with muggles all the time?" Xylona asked
"It's all I've known until this afternoon with your mother so to me it's just normal."
"Oh. That's a good point." Xylona pointed to the grill "I'm guessing your Dad needs to flip the burgers with the … What's that thing called mom?"
"A spatula honey." Sophia said and was about to tell her about Harrys parents.
"Xy. My parents died when I was a year old. I never knew them. I'm living with my relatives. But on the plus side I did meet your mother and she along with the rest of the ladies at the library have been amazing."
Xylona looked down and in a small voice said "I'm sorry. So like the Harry Potter in the books you are an orphan?"
"Yes but I don't know about the books. I mean I'm Harry Potter but there has never been a castle of doom or a dragon. Although my cousin is about the size of a dragon." Harry kind of chuckled.
Xylona had her hot dog half way to her mouth when she stopped and open mouthed turned and looked closer at Harry. The messy dark hair and the glasses all made sense to her in that moment.
"You're Harry Potter!" Xy exclaimed almost in a scream. She looked like she was about to either explode or hyperventilate. The table started shaking and the grill cover popped open and the flames jumped fifty centimeters in the air. Harry jumped and to his credit was under the table in a flash.
"XYLONA! STOP NOW" Sophia shouted at the top of her lungs. That seemed to stop the shaking and the flames. Xylona was still looking at Harry with a mixture of awe and admiration.
"Xy. This is Harry Potter. I'm sure from what I know of him that the books are all fiction. That is the section where they should be shelved." Sophia added the last part knowing that would impress on her daughter what she thought of the books.
"But… But… He's Harry Potter."
"Yes. I am but I've never even seen a castle except in a book."
"I'll be right back." Xy said and was gone so fast it reminded Harry of the cartoons that he had seen Dudley watch on Saturday mornings.
Harry looked at Sophia questioning "Um. Did I do something wrong?"
"No. It's my fault Harry. I had planned to tell Xylona about you before you two ever met and then today happened." She sighed. "There is more I need to tell you but we need some privacy and I would imagine" That was as far as she got before the tornado that was Xylona returned with a stack of books and shoving hers and Harrys plates off the table and to the ground dropped the pile of ten books in their place.
"Xy. What are you doing." Sophia said looking at their dinners on the ground.
"You need to sign my books?" she said. It came out in one long syllable.
"Um. I. Er." Harry stammered.
"Xylona. Please stop what you are doing and listen to me." Sophia said and turned her daughters shoulders to face her. She then had to put her hand on Xylonas head and turn that too.
"Harry is our guest. Do you think this is an appropriate way to show him we like having him here?"
Xylonas shoulders fell and after a full minute her chin followed.
"No mom. But it's Harry Potter." She tried.
"Did you see me acting like this when we met Douglas Addams last week?"
"No. You didn't." Xylona said.
"Now. How shall we act from now on?" Sophia hammered the lesson home one more time.
"We should be respectful and ask politely."
"AND"
"Not be demanding or pushy." Xylona finished. Harry watched this exchange between parent and child. He wondered if his mother would have treated him the same. He knew his relatives would have handled it much differently. Most likely with the back of Vernons hand.
"Now. It's time." Sophia said. Harry wasn't sure what that meant but Xylona did. She turned to Harry.
"I'm sorry Mr. Potter. I didn't mean to be so pushy. If you wouldn't mind could I ask you to sign my books please." Xylona said. She spoke very carefully like she was testing every word ahead of time.
"How about we finish dinner first." Sophia said as a fresh plate of food floated in front of Harry and Xylona.
"Yes Momma"
"Xylona. Please call me Harry." Harry said to the abashed little girl. He felt bad for her but didn't want to get between a mother and her daughter. Xylona looked at Harry and nodded.
"Thank you Harry."
They ate in relative silence as Harry looked at the stack of books. He could read the spines and the all started with 'Harry Potter and the …' The top one was 'Harry Potter and the Castle of Doom'. He could also see the cover was an illustrated image of him with glasses and his scar with a castle and dragon in the background.
Sophia saw him looking at the book.
"That was another thing I was planning on explaining this year sometime. Before you got your Hogwarts letter that is. The books have come out about one a year since your parents died." She said.
Harry could see the sadness in her eyes as she said the last part.
"I knew when I met you that they were all fiction but Xy liked the stories. It gives the wizarding children hope to read about your fictional adventures."
Harry nodded.
"I guess if it helps but I really can't understand why anyone would want to make me the subject of a story? I mean I'm just a freak." Harry said.
Both Xylona and Sophias head snapped to Harry as he said that.
"You're the boy-who-lived. You could never be a freak. You're a hero." Xylona said with a tear forming in her eyes.
"Lets all finish our dinners and then Xy I want you to go play in your room while Harry and I have a talk."
"But Mom." Xy started.
Sophia must have turned on the librarian stare as Xylona shrank and just nodded going back to eating her dinner. Harry silently did the same.
Later Xylona was in her room with a stern 'keep the door closed' message from her mother.
"I would imagine you have questions. Shall I just tell you what I know and then you can ask any questions after that?" Sophia said.
Harry nodded and they moved into the living room. Harry sat on the sofa and Sophia in an over stuffed chair by the fireplace.
"There was a bad wizard that wanted to take over our world. He was hurting a lot of people and gaining followers. Your parents were working against him and he didn't like that. Your parents went into hiding and he found them. How he found them is unclear as the wizarding way to hide is very good. The story we all heard was the he killed your parents and then tried to kill you. That is what gave you that scar on your forehead. When the bad wizard did that something happened and he vanished leaving his clothes and wand behind. No one is sure what happened."
Harry thought for a few minutes digesting all that he heard.
"That's what you know. But you suspect my mother did something? You said at the library that I was lucky it was her and not you."
"Yes. I think your mother did something with Runes and probably a ritual that gave you a protection that no one ever thought possible. I searched for answers for as long as I could but my searching was causing some people to get angry with me. That was when I vanished from the wizarding world and took the job as a librarian. I had to think about Xylonas safety."
"I can understand that. You're a mother and you should be concerned with your daughters safety."
Harry smiled a crooked smile. "Maybe you can teach her not to climb bookshelves."
Sophia looked gobsmacked for a second then started laughing.
"You are so much like your father and mother. That smirk is straight from James and the comment could have come out of your mothers mouth. Thank you."
"I'm sure you have more questions but how about we let the Xy-nado come back down and join us."
Harry chuckled. "Xy-nado. That does seem to fit."
Xylona same back down with only one Harry Potter book in hand. 'Harry Potter in the Castle of Doom.'
"Mr. Er. Harry. I know these are fiction but would you mind signing just one for me. Please."
Harry took the book from her hands. He could see they were shaking a little but her eyes were pleading with him. He smiled and open the front cover of the hard back to read the inside of the dust cover. He chuckled at the teaser for the story. Harry read it out loud.
"Harry Potter and the Castle of Doom. Harry finds himself portkeyed onto the draw bridge of a remote castle with his trusty clean sweep five but why was he in his pajamas. Sensing danger he quickly launches into the air just before the draw bridge explodes in fire as the resident Dragon, a Chinese fireball, begins chasing our hero around and through the castle. As our hero darts into a narrow hall he hears the princess screaming for help. He can not stop now but yells back to let her know he will rescue her. What will our hero do? Will he be able to save the princess? How will he ever get home?"
Xylona was hanging on every word as Harry spoke. Sophia was enjoying the show immensely. It was nice that Xy had someone, beside her mother, that knew about magic. Xylona bashfully held out a pen to Harry. He took it and thought for a minute. Then wrote.
'To Xylona my princess. I will fight a dragon for you anytime. Your prince Harry Potter'
He turned the book so Xylona and Sophia could read it and waited. They both looked at him and smiled. Xylona bounced off her chair and rushed to hug him and kiss his cheek. Then she was gone back to her room.
"That was very nice of you. Thank you Harry."
"You're welcome. I can see how much it means to her so I really don't mind. Maybe I'll read them someday and see just how my younger years have been." Harry smiled a sad smile.
Sophia reached out and took his hand.
"I'm sure I don't know much of it but I can guess. I had to wait until you asked or there would be problems for us and you." She said.
"I'm not blaming you. Your help over the past two years has been brilliant. I couldn't ask for a better friend. Now it seems that the magical world thinks I'm some kind of hero. I don't really understand if it was my mother that did it why write books about me?"
"Several reasons but let's just say they didn't know her well enough to understand how brilliant she was. We worked together for several years after school, and as in school, she was the top of our group. Our boss let her work on the cool projects and she was dealing with things that I can only dream of seeing sometime in my life. That was until she went into hiding. Those were dark times for us all." Sophia had to stop.
"I'm sorry. We don't need to talk about this if you don't want to. It's just" Harry stopped.
"I know. It's just nice hearing about your mother." she said.
Harry nodded. "I've never heard anything about either of my parents. I know she was my Aunts sister but she has never said anything about them except how they died, which it seems was a lie. That and she said they were drunks and my Dad was a deadbeat."
"Definitely not but I've told you that already. James was a prankster in school and after school he was helping the fight against the bad wizard and his group."
Harry nodded. "Thank you for that. That means a lot to hear they were good people."
Sophia checked her watch and sighed. "It's getting late. I have a few things I want to get for you. Can you go hang out with Xylona while I take care of the dishes and gather some books?"
"I can help with the dishes. It's my job where I live." Harry offered.
"No thank you. You should go play."
Harry nodded and went upstairs. He paused at the base of the stairs and looked across the house to Sophia still sitting on the picnic table. He could see her shoulders shaking a little and guessed that all the talk about his mother brought up the sadness again. Harry decided he would do anything he had to to stop the people that would hurt Sophia or Xylona.
Later Sophia called them down to the small kitchen table. There was a small treacle tart for each of them. They all dug in. Harry had seen these before but was never allowed to taste it. He let out a moan it was so good.
Xylona and Sophia chuckled and Harry looked embarrassed.
"I take that as a great complement. Is my tart better than your aunts?" Sophia asked.
"They never let me have any." Harry said matter of factly.
Both Xylona and Sophia stopped mid bite and looked at each other. Sophia recovered quickly and shook her head when Xy looked at her and she understood not to ask any questions.
"Well, I think my moms is the best treacle tart in the world." Xylona said. Harry nodded his agreement.
Sophia slid two books to Harry. "These are for you."
Harry opened the first one and he could see the runes on the inside cover. There were recipes for about ten pages and then blank. He understood what it was for. Closing that one he looked at the next book. The title was 'Runes of the Norse People'. Opening it he started to read the inside of the dust cover. When he was done he also noticed a glowing Rune that had been drawn on the inside cover. He also noticed the name below the Rune. 'Lily Evans'.
"That Runes book was Lilys favorite book. She said the Norse Runes were the best base for an array she had ever found. I figured you could start with that one. The journal is like mine." Sophia said.
Harry reached out and gently ran his finger over the signature.
"Thank you." was all Harry could get out.
"She gave it to me when we left school. I wasn't really sure why but she said I might need it someday. I'm guessing that today is that day." She said.
"I'm afraid my relatives will rip it up and throw it out. Maybe you should keep it." He said not really wanted to let go of it.
"They won't be able to read it and to them it looks like a ratty old school book." Sophia took her wand out and touched the cover of the book Harry held so tightly and it change to look worse than any school book Dudley had ever owned. "They will also not even think about touching it. If they manage it will make them feel sick when they do. I also added those to your new journal too."
Sophia smiled at that.
"You did that with Runes?" Harry asked.
"Yes. They are on the inside of the back covers. You can look them up in the text book. It might be a little advanced for you but I think you can figure it out." Sophia said.
"Thank you I really don't know what to say. This is the first thing I've ever had from my parents." he said.
Before they could all start sniffling Sophia announced "Time to get you home. Would you like to walk or ride?"
"Before we go I have one more thing I want to give you." Sophia said. She moved to Harrys right side and turned his head slightly. Pulling a biro out of her pocket she added a second Rune just below the listening Rune. This was actually a couple of Runes inside a larger circle. Holding up the mirror for him again she showed him the Runes. Harry was amazed she could create something that beautiful in less than a minute.
"That is an array. It adds complexity to a single Rune and provides more. I know that's not a very good description but you will understand more about arrays starting about half way through the book."
"It's beautiful. What does it do?" Harry asked.
With a wicked smile Sophia said "It's a muggle repulsing array. When you power it up it will cause any muggle near you to want to be away from you. Far away based on the amount of power you put in it. If your relatives or your cousins friends become a problem you charge this with your finger and poof. They will run away from you."
"Wicked. That's awesome. Will it hide itself like the other one?" He asked.
"Yes it will be hidden by the time we get you home." She said.
"OK. Let's get Xylona walking before she bursts." Harry said chuckling at Xylona.
He could see the excited expression on Xylonas face that she wanted to walk.
"Can we go now. Pleeeaasseee?"
With that she trio headed to number 4 Privet Drive. This time Sophia held one of Harrys hand and Xylona held the other. Sophia smiled at the antics of her daughter and checked to see that Harry was ok. Harry was smiling. The three of them walked slowly in the fading light towards his relatives home.